Ronaldo....SIMPLY RIDICULOUS!!!

Cristiano Ronaldo is 34 years old. In football years this is relatively old. I use the word "relative" because to him father time simply does not slow this man down. Yet again Cristiano Ronaldo scores a hat-trick in an important football match as he Captained Portugal to a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the UEFA Nations League Semi-final. Cristiano Ronaldo has become such a prevalent goalscorer that as of this writing (June 5th 8:08 PM EST) ESPN FC does NOT have any bullet-point, blurb, or article on the first page of it's website indicating this man's amazing performance. One must dig a little and find the UEFA Nations League link to get to the story. Think about that for a moment....we (including the good people at ESPN FC) are so numb to his goalscoring abilities that they do not even have a hat-trick in the semi-final of a major football tournament as a first page.

As a Cristiano Ronaldo fan, I am in awe of this man's scoring abilities. He is supposed to be slowing down. He is supposed to be letting the younger generation find its legs and shine. He is supposed to be gracefully bowing out. However....HE SIMPLY WILL NOT RELENT!!

Here is a quote from the Portugal National Team coach Fernando Santos:

He is a genius.....There are genius painters and genius sculptors, but he is a genius in football. Simply a genius.

Can anyone in their right mind disagree with this sentiment?

At the top of this blog post I included the highlights to this afternoons game. I want you (the reader) to watch it but listen closely to the crowd after each and every goal this man scores. There is a intestinal roar that permeates the stadium. There is a deep crescendo of delight from the crowd. That roar...that crescendo is Cristiano Ronaldo giving an entire nation HOPE. They have a superman on their side. They have a super-human that lifts their spirit that takes them to a higher plain. A man that will not go softly...a man that will not relent....a man that will not tire of the fight. And this gives people hope and joy that they cannot find in their own lives....but find it on the shoulders of this giant of a man!

As a staunch Manchester United supporter this man made me angry that he left such a storied and historical club. He would have been the best ever footballer to wear Manchester United red. However in moving to planet earth's other historically storied club in Real Madrid he is now the greatest footballer at both Manchester United and Real Madrid. With last seasons move to Juventus there is no way he can keep this pace....or can he?